Hosea 5:6 "With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them."

God has "withdrawn" from the Jews because "their deeds did not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of harlotry is within them and they know not the Lord." (Hosea 5:4). Although it is described as God withdrawing, what has actually happened is that the Jews have withdrawn from God, slowly but surely letting the spirit of harlotry (or idolatry) take over. They thought they were worshiping God, but in their hearts other things had become more important to them.

We do the same, and then we wonder why God is not with us. As we let other things became more important in our lives than God, we fail more and more to know and understand Him. He becomes distant, unseen and unheard, something that demands our time and attention, taking us away from the things that we really think need our time and attention. We find ourselves devoted to our "flocks and herds," or our jobs, our families, sports, hobbies, or anything else, and we wonder why we have to take time away from those things to sit in an uncomfortable church and talk to a God that we no longer hear or love. We forget that all of the things that we are giving our time and attention to come from God in the first place. Then, we hit a bad patch or encounter a situation in which our heart tells us that we need God, and we go looking for Him, but it is difficult because we have lost the ability to talk to Him or hear Him. It feels like He has abandoned us, like He has withdrawn.

But if we seek God humbly, giving up our attachments to everything else, He will always respond, He will never turn from us. The Israelites Hosea is describing went to seek him with their flocks and herds in tow. In other words, they brought with them the very things that caused their disassociation from God, their pride, their "harlotry." When we really need God and seek Him humbly, we must come to Him clinging to nothing else, knowing that He alone can save us and He alone gives us all good things. God wants us to cling only to Him, then everything else we need will be provided, and we will be in perfect order.

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." - Matthew 6:31-33